Five Years of Growing Justice-Impacted Leaders
By Sara Stickney, Press Secretary
Five years ago, Dream.Org launched the Dream Justice Cohort to invest in the people who have historically been closest to the problem but too often furthest from power and resources. Since then, the leadership development program has empowered six cohorts and built a national alumni network of 131 justice-impacted leaders across more than 35 states. These alumni have gone to organize communities, build organizations, lead campaigns, influence policy, and help pass more than 20 pieces of legislation across the country. In 2026, we welcomed 24 new leaders into that community.
Two of those leaders are Tanaine Jenkins and Brian Meegan. Brian is a playwright, scriptwriter, and board member of Abolition Inc., a queer nonprofit that works with current and formerly incarcerated queer people to publish their poetry and their comics. He’s had experience with several other cohorts but hoped to utilize Dream Justice for its networking and relationship building opportunities. For Tanaine, the 2026 Valedictorian, this was her first ever experience with a cohort. She spent eight years on supervision and now is a State Organizer and Coalition Director for a national nonprofit geared toward probation and parole reform. Her motivations for joining this year’s cohort were centered around education and improving how she approaches her work.
“I wanted to make sure that I'm doing it the right way,” she said, “I'm never above learning, constructive criticism, or above instruction.”
The cohort uses a hybrid model as the structure for its training, with months of virtual instruction and self study to culminate in a 5 day in-person session at the Dream.Org offices in Oakland. Virtual sessions began back in early April and Brian says the Zoom meetings really set the groundwork for “a feeling of bonding” between this year’s cohort members “he hasn’t normally felt”. That bond only deepened once the cohort met for in-person sessions in late July. “There was some melding of projects to work on together and social time that just made us all feel very connected,” Brian continued.
Amongst those projects were a variety of training exercises including the study of organizing strategy, learning to read and interpret policy along with who it impacts and holds the power to change it, practicing directly engaging lawmakers, and developing campaigns capable of reducing the footprint of incarceration. Tanaine spoke highly of the powermapping exercise having never been formally trained in the tactic and Brain, despite admitting he didn’t do well, appreciated the roleplay of three little pigs testifying in front of a congressional panel. But both cohort members had extremely high praise for the healing circles, a gathering where people share stories, offer mutual support, and foster emotional and mental well-being. “Sometimes we carry things that are heavy,” Tanaine said, “Allowing us to not just talk about our traumas, but also to be able to say, ‘Hey, this is how you deal with certain situations or this is why you do certain things.’” Brian also mentioned the circles helped him see the other member’s points of view, which as an organization rooted in the principles of common ground and bipartisanship, was a core intention for Dream.Org when structuring the cohort.
What further sets the Dream Justice Cohort apart is its commitment to engaging alumni as instructors. Sean Wilson, Dream.Org’s Senior Director of Organizing and Partnerships and the program's lead, emphasized that incorporating alumni leadership is central to the cohort's mission.
“We knew these leaders already existed because many of us at Dream.org are those same leaders. We are people who have been directly impacted by incarceration and other systems we are now working to change. We understand firsthand the difference that access to resources, relationships, opportunity, and proximity to power can make not just in an individual life, but in what someone is able to accomplish for their community.”
A large portion of Dream.Org’s staff is made up of formerly incarcerated individuals and some of them were included as instructors for the five in-person days at the Oakland office. Amongst them was Kandia Milton, Dream.Org’s Government Affairs Director, and Tanaine found the story of his career in policy and time incarcerated to be eye opening. But more than anything she appreciated the cohort highlighting justice-impacted people. “I always say do not ask somebody for directions who have never been where you were, where you are, and where you're trying to go. And these people have been where I was, where I am and where I'm trying to go.”
After 5 days of training, shared stories, and networking, the graduation for the 2026 cohort took place on July 27th. Dream.Org staff from across the country and several speakers came to join this year’s cohort members for a day that has, over the last 5 years, continued to toe the line between deeply emotional and joyous. The keynote speaker, Kristie Puckett, Chief of Staff at Second Chance Federation, made an impression on Brian, who had previously heard the policy strategist and justice advocate speak. “I appreciate when keynote speakers are someone who feels they can talk differently because of the group they are assembled in front of. They'll share more information or more specifics that make us, as people starting out or maybe less advanced in the work, feel welcome.” Other speakers included Sean himself, Janos Marton, Dream.Org’s Chief Advocacy Officer, Brittany Lee, 2022 cohort alum, Dream.Org’s former Senior Manager of the Empathy Network, and co-program leader, and 2024 cohort alumni De'jon Joy, who Tanaine particularly enjoyed.
The graduation was also a chance to “celebrate each other and celebrate with one another” as Tanaine put it, and reflect on what they’re taking away from the cohort and what they hope to accomplish next. A big aspect for both cohort members was the connection with the other members, even those from differing political backgrounds.
“Prison is very hard to navigate alone,” said Brian, “But to get a job, to get into a program, we have to get on the phone and we all work together. It’s about using those skills and taking them with you, and also finding the network of people that can understand our evolving understanding of how our thought process has protected us, but actually no longer serves us.”
Sean saw those bonds between people from different states, communities, and experiences develop first hand. “They didn’t always see an issue the same way and that was part of the value. They challenged one another, learned from one another, and built relationships that will extend far beyond our time together.”
Tanaine plans to take those relationships and utilize them to help her become a Director of Strategic Partnership or national organizer and to build a "grandiose" network of “people in each and every state that she can turn to when something is in need.” While Brian is looking ahead to helping people connect with other justice-impacted individuals who are on the same journey together, and changing hearts and minds through representation on TV, film, and stage. Both, including the other members of their cohort, will take what they’ve learned back to their organizations and communities and help develop campaigns, coalitions, and use their lived experience to become a source of expertise and power.
“I truly believe people are seeds, and if you water them, they will grow and they will prosper,” said Tanaine, “Dream.org watered our seeds and we're continuing to grow because of it.”
The responsibility of the Dream Justice Cohort has always been to uplift the leadership of people most proximate to the challenges we are trying to solve. Five years later, that commitment has only deepened. There is much more work ahead, but six cohorts have shown what is possible when we intentionally invest in people, treat organizing as a practice of leadership, and build community around those leaders.
To learn more about the Dream Justice Cohort, next year’s cohort, or possible donation opportunities, please visit the Dream.Org webpage.
